Posts Tagged ‘Sarah Borges’

One of the most beloved bands to ever play the original Club Helsinki (back when it was located in Great Barrington) was Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles from Boston. A talented quartet with a love of roots rock, playing late into the night and hoisting a few pints with the crowd, the band “probably played there more than anywhere else,” according to a mid-set remark by Borges during last week’s opening set for Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real at the current Club Helsinki in Hudson.

In the past two years, a lot has changed in Borges’s life and career. She married her ace guitarist Lyle Brewer, gave birth to a son, and after three excellent studio albums and a live CD/DVD, put the band on hiatus. In the past year, she has been working on a solo album, “Radio Sweetheart,” produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and engineered by Dave Minehan of the Neighborhoods, which is slated for release later this year.

(Sugar Hill, 2009): Sarah Borges and her band the Broken Singles started out squarely in the alt-country camp with their ’05 debut album, “Sliver City.” But from the opening volley of their recently released third disc, “The Stars Are Out,” it’s clear that the band is shifting away from country and toward a bolder pop-rock sound.

And that’s not a bad thing. Not at all.

The new album splits the difference between originals and covers – five of each. It’s the album’s opening track – Borges’ revved-up “Do It for Free,” sounding like a Joan Jett outtake – that seems to be attracting the most attention at radio stations like WEXT. (Oh wait a minute, there aren’t really any radio stations like WEXT, are there?)

But it’s Borges’ keen selection of covers that stands out there. She swings through the spectrum that encompasses Any Trouble’s “Yesterday’s Love,” Magnetic Fields’ “No One Will Ever Love You,” the Lemonheads’ “Ride With Me” and NRBQ’s “It Comes to Me Naturally.”

But the real winner here is her unerring stroll through Smokey Robinson’s “Being With You.” Smart, sexy and determined.

This is one of my fave albums of the year so far. Great summer driving music. Actually, it’s just great any-time music.

Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles perform at the Horseshoe Inn in Saratoga Springs at 4pm on Sunday, July 26.

We’re catching up with some of the upcoming Nippertown concerts that have been announced this week:

New Orleans hip-hop hitmaker Lil’ Wayne cancelled his Times Union Center concert back in December, but area fans may finally get a chance to catch him in concert as he brings his “Young Money Presents: America’s Most Wanted Music Festival” to SPAC in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday, July 29, for the second stop on his tour. Also on the bill are Drake and Young Jeezy. Tix are slated to go on sale on Saturday, June 20. A perfect gift for Fathers Day, right?

Also on sale Saturday are tix for the Airborne Toxic Event – the only band in rockdom to take their name from a Don DeLillo novel? – who will be making their Nippertown debut at Northern Lights in Clifton Park on Saturday, October 17.

Meanwhile, on the hip-hop tip at Northern Lights, Wu-Tang’s Raekwan heads up the Rock the Bells tour stop on Friday, July 10. Sharing the stage will be Reflection Eternal, Slaughterhouse, Slum Village and Supernatural.

Comedian/actor/author/banjo player Steve Martin will be the special guest for the live taping of Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” radio show which is kicking off the season at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. on Saturday, June 27. Bluegrass band the Steep Canyon Rangers will also perform. And who else? Oh, yeah actor-activist Martin Sheen.

After bouncing around to a couple of different dates at venues, it looks like the show by roots-rockin’ Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles will finally take place at 4pm Sunday, July 26 at the Horseshoe Inn in Saratoga.

Keyboardist John Medeski teams up with jazz guitar great (and former Schenectadian) Tisziji Munoz for performances at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock on Tuesday, June 30 and Friday, July 31.